‘Kodnani, Bajrangi, Jaideep were at Sola Civil Hospital’

AHMEDABAD: A witness on Tuesday told the special court hearing the 2002

Naroda Gam massacre

case that he had seen former minister Maya Kodnani,

VHP

leader

Jaideep Patel

,

Bajrang Dal

leader

Babu Bajrangi

and some of the other accused persons at the Sola Civil Hospital on February 28, 2002.

A resident of Vastral area, Bipin Thakkar, deposed before the special investigation team (SIT) court as a defence witness. He said that his father-in-law Jesalbhai and brother-in-law Manshukhbhai were VHP activists. Both were killed in the fire in S6 compartment of

Sabarmati Express

near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002. They were returning from Ayodhya. Sources said Thakkar told the court that he had gone to the Sola Civil Hospital to collect their bodies.

The witness also told the court that Jaideep Patel and others helped him in identification of the dead. It was at 11 am on that day that they left the hospital in a government vehicle with the dead bodies. At the time of departure from the hospital, he saw Kodnani, Bajrangi, Arvind Brahmbhatt, Laljibhai and Bhupat Gohil at the hospital. They are all facing trial in the case in which 11 Muslims were massacred at Naroda Gam.

Kodnani’s advocate, Amit Patel, cross-examined the witness on his claim of spotting Kodnani at the hospital and about how he knew Jaideep Patel.

Another witness, Rajesh Thakkar also gave his testimony before the court. He corroborated the claims made by the two defence witnesses – Maqbulkhan Pathan and Nizam Gulabali Ansari – who had told the court last week that one of the accused persons, Dinesh Patel, had given them shelter. Rajesh deposed that he was working as a time-keeper at the company where Dinesh Patel was a union leader. He told the court that the accused, along with the two witnesses, left the company premises at 3:30 pm on February 28, 2002.

Interestingly, during cross-examination by the prosecution, both the witnesses claimed that they had no clue on February 28, 2002 of incidents of rioting in Naroda Gam.